Video of protest of AFTAH by Gay Liberation Network at Christian Liberty Academy.

Gay Liberation Network organized a protest to an academy designed to train Americans on how to respond to ‘Gay’ misinformation during the opening night Thursday, August 5, 2010 at Christian Liberty Academy. The protest began with chants, banners and rainbow flags in a peaceful demonstration with speeches, notably by co-founder Andy Thayer and Eric Christopher Broad. Over 100 protesters, some who met at the Ogilvie Transportation Center and took a Metra train to Arlington Heights, gathered at the northwest corner of Euclid Avenue and Walnut Avenue at the foot of steps into Christian Liberty Academy at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Their chants and cheering could be heard up to one mile from the school according to neighbors.

Beginning August 5th, 2010 a group which calls itself Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) is organizing what they call an “academy” to “train young people (as well as older pro-family advocates) how to answer ‘gay’ activist misinformation and fight the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda.”

The Truth Academy is being held at the Christian Liberty Academy August 5-7, at 502 W. Euclid Ave. in Arlington Heights, and includes a full schedule of 21 lectures and two panel discussions. Featured instructors include: Robert Knight, Prof. Rob Gagnon, Matt Barber, Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Arthur Goldberg, Cliff Kincaid, Greg Quinlan and Laurie Higgins.

Certainly one of the largest protests that’s probably ever been held out here in Arlington Heights. In spite of us standing in front of the Christian Liberty Academy — not exactly the most liberty-minded town perhaps — but over a hundred of you came out here tonight, and you gotta be proud of that.

While the group protested bigotry and hate, one of its male members and two females, or members of an anarchist group harassed The Cardinal videographer. The Christian Liberty Academy is the site of the former Arlington High School, which has maintained a good relationship with the Christian Liberty Academy for reunion, homecoming and nostalgia events. The Cardinal also maintains an interest in the welfare of the Christian Liberty Academy property as a landmark of the former Arlington High School. A protest of any type at the school is of interest to The Cardinal and its readers. After speaking with security personnel about the protest and an upcoming nostalgia event (a sale that includes old high school artifacts), an unidentified male asked The Cardinal videographer in a sarcastic tone: ‘Aren’t you supposed to be inside attending classes?’ The Cardinal videographer replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” because The Cardinal is not affiliated with AFTAH and did not have any details of the 3-day academy at that moment. The videographer continued to capture the speech of Andy Thayer and included a pan of the crowd which included the unidentified male. The unidentified male then took out his iPhone and began imaging the videographer, while maintaining a position less than two feet away. The Cardinal videographer, who immediately began to avoid the unidentified man even as he was taking out his iPhone, walked south but discovered that the man was still standing directly in front view — less than two feet. An unidentified female also stood directly in front of the videographer — taking stills or video images. The videographer asked, ‘Why are you standing two feet in front of me?’ The man replied, “Why are you standing two feet in front of me?” The videographer took advantage of a pick from an unwitting ‘Queer’ male dressed in a red negligee and a matching red bandanna over his face, and walked over to a police squad car with two police officers inside. The unidentified man followed saying he “wanted to clear up the discrepancy.” A fourth woman — who appeared to be some type of organizer and is not shown in the video — told the police that The Cardinal videographer was harassing the unidentified man. No further incident occurred.

No injuries and no incidents of property damage were reported at the protest.

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